Chapter 321: The Sixth Calamity (Part 1)

The six massive swords swung downward all at once.

Kai’s eyes widened. "MOVE!"

He launched himself forward.

WHOOSH!

The first sword cut clean through the street.

BOOOOOOM!

The road tore apart under the impact. A second blade sliced across the eastern district. A third crashed into an abandoned building, collapsing it in one motion. Three more cut through the air where he’d been standing a half-second earlier.

He activated Air Step.

WHOOSH!

He barely cleared the last of it, landing hard on a rooftop that shuddered beneath his boots. He looked back. Three enormous scars now stretched across Mythal, one for each blade.

"...That’s one attack?"

"Yes," Tiamat confirmed.

He grimaced. "I really don’t like this one."

Dust rolled through the streets, and the giant remained exactly where it stood, not even pushed back an inch. Its three heads turned slowly, all three fixing on him at once.

"...It’s looking at me," he said.

"All three heads," Sera said, staring up.

"It’s tracking you," Mira confirmed.

"Just like the other Calamities," Gabriel said, expression tightening.

Kai nodded. "The City Leader." He gripped his sword. "Still the target."

He tested it deliberately, running left. The three heads turned. He jumped, and all three followed. He activated Air Run, and the heads tracked him through the sky without losing him for a second. He stopped cold. The creature stopped too. He took a single step, and it adjusted instantly.

"It isn’t just attacking the city," he said.

"No," Tiamat said.

"It’s watching me."

"Yes."

He studied the three faces staring down at him. "That’s different from the weapon disaster."

"I’ll test something," Sera said, already moving.

She rushed one of the massive arms, weapon connecting.

BOOM!

The impact shook the limb, but the creature barely reacted, throwing her backward with the shockwave alone. Kai caught her before she hit the ground.

"You okay?"

She steadied herself. "Yeah." She looked at the arm. "It’s incredibly hard."

Kai spotted a faint crack at the point of impact. "You damaged it."

"...Barely."

He smiled. "Barely is still damage."

"Then let’s test it properly," Mira said, stepping forward. She launched her strongest strike straight into the creature’s leg.

BOOOOOOM!

The spectral body rippled, and the giant actually shifted its stance slightly.

Her eyes widened. "...It moved."

"So it can be pushed," Raze said, grinning.

Kai stared at the leg. "And it doesn’t regenerate." Everyone looked. The crack from Sera’s attack was still there. His expression sharpened. "That’s important."

The three heads suddenly turned toward Mira. One sword rose.

"Uh..." she managed.

"MOVE!" Kai shouted.

The sword came down.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

She cleared it by a hair, the ground where she’d stood erased entirely. Raze looked at the crater. "...Okay." He gripped his weapon. "It really doesn’t like being hit."

"Good," Kai said, watching the giant reset its stance. "Now we know."

The creature raised its arms again, and this time Kai caught the pattern immediately. Three swords advanced. Three held back.

"Look," he said.

"Three attacking," Lily observed.

"Three defending," Elden added.

"It’s fighting like an actual warrior," Gabriel said quietly.

Kai watched the three heads coordinate the shift. "And the heads control the arms."

"It has excellent battlefield awareness," Tiamat noted.

"So it’s not just strong." He paused. "It’s skilled."

"Then let’s see if it can handle this!" Raze charged, weapon swinging into one of the six swords.

CLANG!

The blade didn’t break, but he shoved it aside anyway. "Ha!"

"Nice," Kai said.

"You sound surprised."

"A little."

Raze laughed, and then another sword swung toward him without warning. His grin vanished. "...Never mind."

He ran. Kai laughed despite everything.

The giant took one step.

THOOM.

The whole city shook. Another step.

THOOM.

Cracks spread through nearby buildings.

"Its movement alone is causing damage," Lily said, checking the readings.

"We can’t let it walk through Mythal," Elden said.

"Then we pull it away," Mira said.

Kai looked at the towering shape. "That’s going to be my job."

Sera sighed. "Again?"

"Apparently I’m good at being bait."

He ran toward the outskirts, and the three heads followed instantly, the giant’s footsteps shaking the earth behind him.

THOOM.

He accelerated.

THOOM.

Another step, and the creature followed him clear of the city limits, matching his pace across open ground even as he activated Air Run. He glanced back. "...It’s fast."

"For its size," Tiamat said.

"That’s not helping."

He changed direction, and it adjusted instantly. He turned again, and a sword swung. He jumped, and another blade rose to block the exact path he’d chosen. He caught himself with Air Step, the blade passing beneath his boots.

He landed and stared upward. "...Wait."

The attacks weren’t random. One sword sealed his left. Another closed his right. A third came down from behind.

"It’s herding me," he said.

"Yes."

"Just like the weapons."

"Different method. Similar objective."

Three swords swung at once, and he saw no clean way through. Then Distortion pulled him sideways on its own, and the blades crossed exactly where he’d been standing.

BOOOOOOM!

He landed clear, staring at the wreckage. "...That was close."

"Your Distortion remains useful," Tiamat said.

"Very." He looked toward the giant. "But I don’t want to rely on it for ten minutes."

"Everyone!" Mira called.

The hunters moved together, Sera striking the left leg, Raze the right, Gabriel’s forces opening fire from range, Elden’s remaining artillery joining in, Lily timing the whole assault.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The combined strike landed clean, and the giant staggered.

Raze stared. "...Did we just move it?"

"Yes," Kai said.

"Then we can control it," Mira said.

He shook his head slowly, looking past the giant toward the buildings crumbling behind it. "Maybe. But look at what happened."

The strike had damaged the creature. It had also flattened three buildings in the process.

"Every time we hit it with something powerful," Kai said, "the city pays for it."

Silence settled over the group.

"We can’t fight it like a normal boss," Mira said quietly.

"Exactly."

Gabriel approached. "The old records mentioned something similar."

"You know this thing?" Kai asked.

"Not this exact form." She looked up at the towering warrior. "But the final Calamity was always described as something that directly challenges the City Leader."

"So the form can change."

"Apparently."

He nodded slowly. "That explains why the records didn’t match."

Lily checked the timer.

[Sixth Calamity Duration: 3:12.]

"...Three minutes," Kai said.

"We only need ten," Mira said.

"Then we don’t need to kill it," he said.

"Survive," Raze offered.

"Exactly."

Sera smiled. "We’ve done that before."

"Not against that," Kai said, looking up.

"There’s always a first time," Raze said.

Lily pulled up the map. "We could create a moving corridor."

Elden shook his head. "It’ll destroy everything around it."

"Then we keep it in an empty zone," Mira said.

"We can use the evacuated districts," Gabriel said.

"That’s the starting point," Kai agreed.

"How do we stop it from walking back?" Raze asked.

Kai studied the giant’s legs. "We make it stay."

"We don’t attack its body," he continued. "We damage the legs enough to slow it."

"Then keep it there," Raze said.

"And everyone focuses on defense," Mira added.

"I can redirect the remaining systems to reinforce the evacuation zone," Lily said.

"I’ll reinforce the structures," Elden said.

"The Church can handle the ranged attacks," Gabriel said.

"Good," Kai said. For the first time since the giant had appeared, they actually had a plan.

He stepped forward. "I’ll draw it into position."

"Kai," Sera said immediately.

"I’ll be fine."

"You said that before."

He laughed. "And I was."

"Barely."

"Still counts."

He moved, and the three heads followed instantly, the giant lurching into motion behind him.

THOOM.

He ran.

THOOM.

He reached the designated battlefield and turned. The spectral warrior loomed over him, filling the whole sky.

"Come on," he muttered, sword raised.

It lifted one blade.

"Positions!" Mira shouted, and the hunters scrambled into formation, Sera and Raze angling toward the legs, Gabriel’s Church forming a barrier line, Lily and Elden pushing the last of the network’s power through.

Kai stood squarely in front of the creature, all six swords rising over him.

"Everyone ready?"

"Ready!" Mira called.

"Let’s do it!" Raze answered.

"Go!" Sera said.

He moved.

The creature swung, and he dodged. Sera struck the left leg.

BOOM!

Raze hit the right.

BOOM!

It staggered.

"Again!" Mira shouted, and they hit it once more, cracks spreading visibly through its spectral frame.

"It’s working!" Kai called, watching it take a step backward under the pressure.

For one brief, shining moment, it felt like they’d actually figured it out.

Then all three heads snapped upward in unison, six arms moving together.

"...Wait," Kai said.

The swords didn’t swing the way they had before. Instead, they began to glow, the air around each blade bending and warping.

"What’s happening?" Lily asked, staring at her readings.

"I don’t know," Elden said.

Gabriel’s expression turned grim. "That’s not in the records."

"Of course it isn’t," Kai muttered.

All six swords rose high above the towering warrior, the three heads igniting with pale light, the air itself growing heavy enough to press against his chest.

"Kai," Tiamat said, voice suddenly sharp.

"I know."

"No." A beat. "You don’t."

His eyes widened as the six blades began their descent.

"That isn’t an ordinary sword attack."

He didn’t wait to hear more.

"EVERYONE—"

The swords swung downward as one.